


When Next We Meet

by mevious



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-06 19:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11042703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mevious/pseuds/mevious
Summary: A warrior is asked by the paladin she trained alongside to watch over her little sister on her journey through the Broken Isles. Antics ensue.





	1. Prologue

 

“Please, Ani. I can’t trust anyone else with this.” Her eyes were genuine, so sincere that I thought I might burst with emotion.

“Cyonis…” My voice must have given away that I couldn’t believe she was asking this of me, because she flinched back like she’d been punched in the gut. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be asking, it’s just… Hila can get in over her head sometimes, you know?” She frowned, finally looking me in the eye again. It was a relief. I couldn’t bear the thought of her not wanting to look at me.

I sighed, but I couldn’t stop the small smile that came to my lips when our gazes met. It was almost like she knew just how to tug at my heartstrings, despite the time we’d spent apart. “Okay,” I told her. 

She looked almost confused for a moment. At a minimum, she was bewildered at my response. Bewildered… That’s a word she would use, not me. Reunited after months, and she was already rubbing off on me. Damn.

“You’re serious? You’ll really do this?” Watching her excitement grow only made my smile get wider, as much as I dreaded what I was agreeing to. It would all be worth it if I could just see Cyonis smile just like this one more time. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m serious. Besides, I’ve got a lot of work to do to catch up to you, yanno? I can’t believe you dragged me out of retirement just to watch you be better than me,” I teased, gently pushing on her shoulder from across the table we were sharing at the Lion’s Pride Inn. “Taking Hila on her little adventure will just be a stepping stone so I can rejoin you in the siege of the tomb.”

She tilted her head, looking intrigued. “You intend to assist?” 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I assured her, giving a sly wink. “Besides, did you really think I’d let you go alone?”

Her laugh was music to my ears. I almost got lost in it. “Of course not. That’s what friends are for, right?” Instantly, I was snapped back to reality. For a moment there, I’d almost forgotten.  _ Friends.  _ That’s what we were, wasn’t it? Just friends. Right.

If she noticed that my smile faltered, she didn’t give any hint. “Of course, Cy. What else am I good for if not escorting your sister through the Broken Isles?” It was only a half-joke, but the paladin didn’t need to know that. 

“Oh, stop it, Anibel. You’re a warrior! Who better to entrust Hila to on her journey?” I couldn’t help but wince when she said it. Warrior. Memories of training with Cyonis to become a paladin flashed through my thoughts, but I recovered quickly and my smile was back to full. This time, I saw the flash of concern, but she said nothing. 

“Alright already, I get it. You don’t have to keep flattering me, you know. I’ve already agreed to this little quest of yours. You don’t even have to offer a reward.” I grinned. I could think of a few things that might motivate me, but I sure as hell wasn’t asking for them.

“Oh, I’ll give you a reward,” she taunted, reaching across the table to poke my nose with one of her slender sky blue fingers. She always did that when she wanted to remind me how much taller than me she was, and it never failed to make me blush red enough that my skin matched my hair.

“Screw off,” I shot back, though my grin gave away that I was just kidding around. I leaned my elbows onto the table, taking a sip of my drink, after which my expression grew serious. “So I guess this is the last I’ll be seeing of you for a while, huh?” My tone was lowered, and Cyonis’ smile faded as well. 

“Yes. I have much work to do to gain access to the tomb.” She sighed, though she didn’t let her perfect posture crumple. She never slouched. I liked that about her.

“Yeah, I know. Still sucks, though.” 

She nodded in agreement and we both sat in silence for a long moment, me sipping my mead and her sipping at a glass of something bubbly and light, just like her. 

“We’ll meet again, though,” she said finally. “When the tomb is open. You’ll be ready and we can ride into battle together, just like old times.” Her smile returned, but it was small. I could only nod.

“And then we’ll kick some ass, just like old times.” My grin outshined hers for only a moment before she was stifling a laugh.

“I wouldn’t put it so crudely, but yes. We’ll ‘kick some ass’.” Something about the way her mouth formed around the curse, the way her accent turned my crude words into something beautiful made me laugh.

“Right. When next we meet,” I promised when my laughter finally calmed.

“When next we meet,” she agreed.


	2. Rise and Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anibel is awoken early by Cyonhilation, the younger sister she's promised to escort through the Broken Isles.

Dawn had just barely cracked when I felt myself being shaken awake by someone far more excited for morning than I. It didn’t help that I’d probably drank far too much mead at the bar downstairs in the Lion’s Pride with Cyonis the night before, either. All I could manage was a groan and a wave of my hand, like I was shooing away a bug.

“It’s morning! Wake up!” The voice grated on my headache, but not as much as the light when I cracked one amber eye open. It was just barely dawn, but the buzzing fly wasn’t wrong -- it was morning.

“I’m retired,” I hissed, rolling away from the offending speaker and pulling the wool blanket over my head.

“Not anymore you aren’t! Now get up and let’s go before I leave you behind.”

At that point, I knew no matter how hard I tried I wasn’t getting back to sleep, but it still took a few moments for everything to come rushing back to me. Coming out of retirement. My promise to Cyonis. God, that meant… 

“Alright, alright. Calm your shit, Hila.” I threw the blanket off and pulled myself into a sitting position, adjusting the filthy white tank top I wore under my armor so it was straight. “I’m coming, okay? I know your sister doesn’t want you going to the Broken Isles on your own, but if you want an escort, you’re just going to have to be patient.”

My gaze slid over to the young draenei with half the looks and none of the regality of her older sister. Her face was impatient as she crossed her arms over her chest, tapping one hoof on the floor of my room at the inn. “If anyone’s escorting anyone, it’s me. You’re the one just coming out of retirement. I’ve been training this whole time!” 

“Whatever,” I ceded, heaving my feet over the side of the bed and onto the floor. I scowled at Cyonis’ younger sister for a long moment before attempting to stand. It was shaky at first, but I succeeded, and I even managed to not give too much of my hangover away.

That didn’t last long, though, because my shamble over to my armor turned into a stumble and before I knew it, Cyonhilation was asking the real questions. “You were drinking last night, weren’t you?” 

I turned my head just enough to face her and snarled. “What’s it to ya? It’s not like I planned to have some brat shaman wake me at the crack of ass to run off to the Broken Isles. Forgive me for thinking I might have a day or two or at least a morning to myself before I’d have to run off and quest with some kid.” 

Okay, maybe that was a little harsh, but it seemed to get the point across because Hila didn’t respond, only made a face at me while she waited for me to finish putting my gear on. I did feel a little better once I was suited up, the familiar clang of metal as I stretched upward not irritating my headache quite so badly as I’d expected it to.

“Alright, let’s go. I’ll grab a drink of water and meet you on Krasus’ Landing in Dalaran, all right? Fifteen minutes, tops.” The look I gave her then was much more gentle than any look I’d given previously, but if Hila noticed, she didn’t seem to care. Her expression was just as sour as it had ever been.

“Whatever,” she responded, her voice mocking my previous statement. She pulled a hearthstone from her bag and in a flash she was gone, leaving me to wonder if she would even be there when I arrived. Perhaps letting her go alone was a mistake. Cyonis would kill me if I lost track of her.

Still, all that was left to do was follow, but there was no way I’d be of any use if I didn’t at least drink some water first. So I headed out of my room, not bothering to make the bed behind me -- there were people who were paid for that sort of thing, right? -- and headed downstairs. From the looks of it, I was one of the only ones who’d woken up this early. Go figure.

“All I need is water,” I told the innkeeper turned bartender when I got downstairs. “Sorry to bother you so early.”

“I assume you’ll be paying for your room as well?” she responded, a stern look on her face.

“Yeah, yeah,” I snapped back, counting out the gold pieces as she filled a mug with room temperature water. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.

In exchange for my thirty gold, six silver and four copper, she slid the water across the bar. I chugged it. It may have been lukewarm but my throat was screaming for it. By the end, I felt marginally better. Well enough, at least, to take my own hearthstone to Dalaran and hopefully meet up with Cyonhilation. 

In the seconds before my hearthstone transported me, I hoped beyond hope that she’d be waiting.


End file.
